DeepSeek AI, a Chinese startup founded in 2023, has rapidly emerged as a formidable player in the AI industry. The DeepSeek app was officially launched on January 10, 2025, becoming the top downloaded free productive app on the App Store. Its innovative approaches have challenged established norms in AI development.
One of DeepSeek’s most significant achievements is the R1 model. This model was trained using approximately 2,000 Nvidia H800 chips, costing around $5.6 million. In contrast, OpenAI’s GPT-4 has required over 16,000 advanced chips, with training costs exceeding $100 million. This stark difference underscores DeepSeek’s efficiency, achieving similar performance at a much lower price.
Let’s look at some statistics of the DeepSeek AI platform that may revolutionize the industry.
DeepSeek Overview
| Attribute | Details |
| Name | DeepSeek AI |
| Founder | Liang Wenfeng |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Country | China |
| DeepSeek App Launch | January 10, 2025 |
| Key Innovation | R1 Model: Efficient AI model training with reduced costs |
| Training Cost | $5.6 million (R1 Model) |
| Hardware Used | ~2,000 Nvidia H800 chips |
| Performance | Top 10 globally in math, coding, and reasoning benchmarks |
| Business Model | Open-source model (R1 available for free) |
| Primary Focus Areas | Math, coding, reasoning tasks |
DeepSeek Statistics 2025 – Top Picks
- DeepSeek ranks 1 among free Productive apps on the App Store in India.
- DeepSeek has experienced over 160% traffic increase in 1 month.
- India ranks as the 4th highest user of DeepSeek.
- DeepSeek has a training cost of $5.58 million, much less than competitors.
DeepSeek User Demographic Statistics
- DeepSeek has a higher Male user base(71.57%), while Female Users account for 28.43%.
The higher male user base can be due to several factors, including a strong representation of men among early tech adopters, marketing strategies targeting male-dominated spaces, and features appealing to tech and coding enthusiasts.
- The age distribution of DeepSeek AI users reveals a strong preference among younger demographics, with the 25-34 age group leading at 34.47%, followed by the 18-24 group at 22.03%, indicating higher adoption by millennials and Gen Z.Middle-aged users aged 35-44 contribute 19.82%, reflecting steady usage, while older users see a noticeable decline, with 45–54 at 13.11%, 55–64 at 6.43%, and 65+ at 4.14%.
(Source: Similarweb)
DeepSeek App Statistics
- DeepSeek AI ranks #1 among free Productive apps on the Apple App Store in India.
The DeepSeek AI app experienced fluctuations in its ranking on the App Store in India throughout January. Beginning in early January 2025, the app’s ranking rose to the 85th position in the Productivity App category on 17 January. However, it dipped again to the 145th spot on 20 January.
Following this dip, the DeepSeek app’s ranking improved, reaching the top by late January 2025. This upward trend indicates growing popularity and increased downloads during this period. DeepSeek continues to be a trending topic on social media and online news platforms, leading to a rise in user adoption in India.
DeepSeek App Rankings (iOS App Store – Productive App Category)
| Country (Highest DeepSeek Traffic) | Current Rank | Rank after App Launch (Jan 10, 2025) |
| China | 1 | 18 |
| Russia | 1 | 9 |
| USA | 1 | 35 |
| India | 1 | 190 |
| Egypt | 1 | 4 |
- The DeepSeek app has a rating of 4.7 in the Play Store and 4.1 in the App Store.
- Over 1 crore users downloaded the DeepSeek app from Google Play in early 2025.
DeepSeek’s success is primarily due to its high performance at a much lesser cost than other popular AI platforms, which enabled it to roll out updates quickly and focus on user needs. They also nailed their marketing, especially in areas with a strong tech presence!
- The DeepSeek App had the highest downloads of 10 lakhs from India on Google Play within 30 days.
DeepSeek App Downloads (Google Play – Android)
| Country (Highest App Downloads) | Downloads (Approx. in 30 days) | Download Shares |
| India | 1,000,000 | 18% |
| Pakistan | 500,000 | 10% |
| South Korea | 500,000 | 8% |
| Brazil | 200,000 | 8% |
| Indonesia | 200,000 | 6% |
(Source: AppMagic)
Engagement Statistics of DeepSeek AI
- DeepSeek’s web page had a total visit of 11.79 million in early 2025. This marks a 163.53% increase in website traffic from December 2024.In India, DeepSeek’s website traffic has increased by 291% in 1 month.
- Users spend an average of 5 minutes on the DeepSeek web platform.
- Computers, electronics, and technology are the most searched topics on DeepSeek. Following that are topics related to news and video games.
(Source: Similarweb)
Why is DeepSeek so Popular
DeepSeek’s popularity is increasing due to its innovative features and efficient approach to AI development. Here are the key reasons for its popularity:
1. Efficient and Cost-Effective AI Model
- Minimal GPU Usage: Trained with only 2,000 GPUs, much less than the competition, which typically uses 16,000+ GPUs.
- Quick Training Time: The model was trained in 55 days, faster than other industry giants.
- Lower Training Costs: The training cost was $5.58 million, much cheaper than other AI companies.
2. User-Friendly AI Assistant
- Multi-Platform Availability: The AI Assistant is available on iOS and Android platforms, making it accessible to a wide audience.
- High Ratings: Became the highest-rated free app on the U.S. & India iOS App Store, surpassing AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini.
- Interactive Chat: Provides conversational AI that can handle various tasks like answering queries, solving problems, and generating content.
3. Superior Performance
- Real-Time Responsiveness: DeepSeek’s AI assistant is known for its quick response time of 1-3 seconds and accuracy in answering user queries.
- Advanced Understanding: It excels in understanding complex inputs and can engage in to-the-point conversations.
4. Global Reach
- Wide User Adoption: As of early 2025, the DeepSeek app has over 10 million downloads and a rapidly expanding user base across multiple countries.
- Accessible to All: Offers free and premium versions, ensuring a broad range of users, from casual to professional ones.
5. Security & Privacy
- Data Protection: DeepSeek takes strong measures to secure user data, making it a trusted AI option.
- Accountability: After facing cyber-attacks, the company has tightened security protocols to safeguard its users.
6. Strong Market Disruption
- Price and Performance Advantage: Due to its low cost of training and efficient model, DeepSeek has shaken up the global AI industry, drawing the attention of major U.S. tech companies.
- Impact on Stock Market: Its sudden rise triggered significant losses in tech stocks like Nvidia and Microsoft, making it a focal point in the AI sector.
7. Social Media and Community Engagement
- Growing Social Presence: With over 790,000 followers on X (Twitter), DeepSeek maintains strong engagement with its user base and tech enthusiasts on social media.
- Viral Popularity: Its rapid rise in ratings and engagement reflects how users are actively promoting it.
Is DeepSeek Better than ChatGPT
DeepSeek AI and ChatGPT have become two of the most talked-about AI platforms worldwide. Both have unique strengths, but which is better depends on your needs and preferences. Let’s compare to see how they go up against each other.
Accuracy Comparison
In an accuracy comparison released by DeepSeek on X, it outperformed OpenAI (ChatGPT’s model) with higher and more consistent accuracy. Take a look at our takeaways from the graph:
- DeepSeek-R1 outperforms OpenAI-o1-1217 and OpenAI-o1-mini in the highest accuracy (96.6% vs. 93.4% and 90.6% respectively).
- DeepSeek-R1 also shows more consistent high performance, with multiple scores above 90% (e.g., 94.3%, 91.8%).
- OpenAI-o1-1217 has a wider range of performance, with some lower scores (e.g., 39.2%) but still competitive high scores (e.g., 93.4%).
- DeepSeek-V3 shows variability, with some lower scores (e.g., 36.8%) but also strong performance in certain areas (e.g., 91.8%).
- OpenAI-o1-mini performs moderately, with scores ranging from 63.6% to 90.6%, but does not reach the peak performance of DeepSeek-R1.
Cost Efficiency Comparison
- DeepSeek: Trained its V3 model at $5.6 million, making it significantly more cost-effective. This efficiency provides a competitive edge, especially for scaling or iterative development.
- OpenAI GPT-4: Required over $100 million, reflecting a much higher investment in computational resources. While the cost may lead to a more robust model, it limits accessibility for smaller firms.
Hardware Utilization
- DeepSeek: Leveraged Nvidia H800 chips efficiently, demonstrating optimized resource use. This aligns with its goal of creating a high-performing model without excessive reliance on hardware.
- OpenAI GPT-4: Relied on over 16,000 chips, indicating a significant hardware dependency. This highlights OpenAI’s ambition to push boundaries but raises concerns about sustainability and scalability.
Training Time and Scalability
- DeepSeek’s ability to train its model in 55 days reflects efficient algorithms and hardware utilization.
- OpenAI’s prolonged training (exact date undisclosed) ensures a higher level of refinement but may slow iterative improvements.
App Comparison
- DeepSeek now ranks 1 among free productivity apps in the App Store in India. Positive reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations have amplified its reach, making it a leading app in its category.
- ChatGPT dropped to rank 2 in January 2025 following the launch of the DeepSeek app. This shift highlights DeepSeek’s rapid rise in popularity.
Language Support
- ChatGPT supports over 80 languages, including widely spoken ones such as English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and many others.
- DeepSeek’s language support is more specialized. DeepSeek Coder, a series of code language models, is trained in English and Chinese, with a composition of 87% code and 13% natural language.
Drawbacks of DeepSeek AI in India
Despite its impressive growth, DeepSeek has faced criticism in India for its lack of responsiveness to certain sensitive queries. Notably, when users search “Is Arunachal Pradesh a part of India,” the AI platform fails to provide a clear response, sparking concerns about its reliability on geopolitical topics.
This issue has drawn comparisons to its Chinese competitor, Qwen AI, which maintains a more neutral stance and delivers non-controversial or balanced outputs on similar queries.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is DeepSeek safe?
Yes, DeepSeek is safe, prioritizing user data protection and implementing cybersecurity measures to prevent breaches. Following a surge in cyber-attacks due to its rapid popularity, DeepSeek temporarily restricted new user registrations to enhance security protocols. However, like any AI platform, users should exercise caution and review its privacy policy for clarity on data usage.
2. Can DeepSeek be used in India?
Yes, DeepSeek can be used in India. The platform supports global access, including in India, allowing users to download and use its AI Assistant app on iOS and Android devices.
3. Is DeepSeek free?
Yes, DeepSeek offers a free version of its AI Assistant app, allowing users to access many of its features at no cost. However, there is also a premium version that provides additional features, advanced capabilities, and an enhanced user experience.
